ICYMI: January 31, 2015

A lot can happen in a week. New apps join the Windows Phone Store or Windows Store. Your favorite apps can get a big update with a new look or new features. Device rumors come and go. Seven days might not seem like much, but it can be an eternity in the tech news cycle. Every week we're going to compile the biggest stories into one post, so you never fall behind – In Case You Missed It (ICYMI).

Windows 10 preview for phones

Windows 10 preview for phones

Windows Phone

  • BLU Win HD available from Target right now for $46 [Read]
  • Windows Phone rev is down but Lumia sales top 10 million for the holiday [Read]
  • Lumia 530 and 630 make big gains, Lumia 535 a hit in India but Windows Phone flagships are scarce [Read]
  • Calendar for Windows Phone 8.1 update brings new agenda view, more [Read]
  • Huawei says no plans for a Windows 10 phone, surprises no-one [Read]
  • Verizon Lumia Icon Denim update teased for possible February release [Read]
  • FLAC support will also come to Windows 10 for phones [Read]

Microsoft + Windows

  • Here's how to enable the Spartan Edge rendering engine for IE11 in Windows 10 [Read]
  • Internet Explorer Edge? Possible names for Spartan browser reportedly being considered [Read]
  • How to manually enable tablet mode in the Windows 10 preview [Read]
  • Microsoft demonstrates the upcoming touch-based Windows 10 Office apps [Read]
  • Spartan's rendering engine dumps all the old code that bogged down Internet Explorer [Read]
  • Surface pulls in over one billion in revenue for Microsoft as sales increase by 24% [Read]
  • 8-inch and larger Windows 10 tablets only will have the desktop [updated] [Read]
  • Confirmed: Spartan will include extension support [Read]
  • Goodbye, Windows RT as Microsoft halts production of the Surface 2 [Read]
  • Microsoft rumored to be investing in Google Android rival Cyanogen [Read]

Apps

  • Viber update brings number blocking, in-chat notifications and new emoticons [Read / Download]
  • Chase Mobile app removed from Windows Phone Store, app will shut down March 22 [Read]
  • Sygic releases their super smooth Sygic GPS Navigation app for Windows Phone [Read / Download]
  • VLC beta for Windows Phone picks up dark theme, 720P and music indexation improvements [Read / Download]
  • Metrotube fixes playback issues in latest update, adds new features [Read / Download]
  • Microsoft's Tetra Lockscreen for Windows Phone adds weather info with latest update [Read / Download]
  • Facebook for Windows Phone updated with Top Stories in News Feed and more [Read / Download]
  • Phone Insider app for Windows 10 Preview updated, renamed to Windows Insider [Read / Download]
  • Wells Fargo confirms it will continue supporting its Windows Phone app [Read / Download]
  • HTC Camera 2.0 arrives for the One M8, brings new Pan 360 feature [Read / Download]
  • Bank of America to end support for its Windows Phone app in early March [update: Windows 8.1 too] [Read / Download]
  • Xbox Music for Windows Phone picks up substantial bug fixing update for January [Read] / Download]

Games

  • Heaps of Borderlands news and more from the Gearbox panel at PAX South [Read
  • Your typical mobile gamer today spends two hours every day face-down in a tablet [Read]
  • Hands on with Greeble 2 for Windows 8 and Windows Phone at PAX South [Read]
  • Microsoft will euthanize Zoo Tycoon Friends on April 28 due to technical failures [Read / Download]
  • Evolve: Hunters Quest boils down first-person shooter to match-3, now available for Windows Phone [Read / Download]

Xbox

  • Killer Instinct Season 2's Omen gets a trailer, brings a new character along for the ride [Read]
  • Hands on with The Witcher 3, the next big RPG for Xbox One [Read]
  • EA slashes prices of Titanfall, Battlefield 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition and more on Xbox One [Read]
  • Your Xbox One controller is about to get a whole lot better [Read]

Extra and Miscellaneous

  • Poll results: Windows Central community speaks up on Microsoft Band and the week of Windows 10 [Read]
  • AT&T to acquire Nextel Mexico for $1.875 billion [Read]
  • It's time to embrace the change with Windows 10, not dismiss it before it arrives [Read]
  • Poll – Should Microsoft keep 'Spartan' as the name for their new browser? [Read]
  • Facebook and Instagram experience denial of service attack, outage [Read]
  • Win a Surface Pro 3 with Microsoft's Big Game Day competition (U.S.) [Read]
  • Actress Chloë Grace Moretz busts iPhone, gets free Lumia 1520 [Read]

Share your thoughts on this past week of Windows Phone, Windows, Xbox and Microsoft news!

Seth Brodeur